Jasper planning director arrested

Jasper County Planning and Development Director David Jirousek was placed on administrative leave without pay after a Jan. 1 arrest in Beaufort County.

Jirousek, 32, was charged with petit larceny, public drunkenness and simple assault, according to the preliminary police report from the Beaufort Police Department.

Jasper County Administrator Andrew Fulghum said last week that action was taken immediately to place Jirousek, a four-year employee of Jasper County, on administrative leave without pay as soon they were notified of the charges.

“The matter is under investigation by the county as a personnel issue,” Fulghum said. “I cannot make a comment about it at this time other than to say that we were informed immediately of the incident by Mr. Jirousek himself.”

Such charges are not the first time that Jirousek, a Beaufort resident and former Bluffton planning director, has had similar brushes with law enforcement. He was charged in 2010 with DUI and leaving the scene of a wreck on Lady’s Island, where a tree was hit and a fence was damaged on Sunset Boulevard.

“All previous charges were dropped,” Jirousek said last week.

Jirousek has hired Beaufort attorney Cory Fleming.

In a written statement last week, Jirousek acknowledged the Jan. 1 incident: “I’ve put my heart into my role with the county and sadly I let my personal life interfere. I won’t respond with my account, but this incident has disappointed many people who believe in me. Learning from failures and self-improvement are part of a life-long process and I will never give up trying to be a better person.”